playback device??

[JimPunkrockford]

i recentley changed my soundcard, and now i can only select (in the control panal) my soundcards MIDI out cable as my MIDI playback device. can i use my virtual piano from my cakewalk program to make sound? any other ideas? i used to be able to have MIDI sound, it was cheezy but it least i could hear it. any ideas? they would be apriciated.

[AlChuck]

I'm guessing you changed from something like a SoundBlaster to something like an Audiophile. Only consumer cards have MIDI synth chips on them, and your new and better card probably does not. So there is nothing to respond to MIDI messages with an actual sound.

The Virtual Keyboard will do nothing for you, it's a software MIDI input device.

Depending on what your recording software is, your best bet (and one you might even already have all you need set up) is to use a soft synth. You mentioned Cakewalk. Which product of theirs do you have? Most of them come with at least one or two DXi instruments, one of them the Roland Virtual Sound Canvas. Read your manual.

If you have Pro Audio 9 or something earlier, you can probably use the Microsoft Wavetable Synth, but it won't work very well and you won't be able to play it in real time.

[JimPunkrockford]

Ahhh yes, you nailed the problem exactly. even got the products in the switch right. very nice.

i have a lame cakewalk version. some express thing. i noodled about in it and couldn't find the sound scape thing. the M-audio web page suggest the Microsoft Wavetable Synth. it said it was in Winamp, so i downloaded Winamp and couldn't find any wavetable synth.

i don't really care if it sounds bad, i really want to use it for the TEFView program to practice some guitar parts i downloaded in tab.

so what do i do???

thanks for the help
JimPunkrockford

[AlChuck]

Go to the Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices

Click the Audio tab in the dialog box. At the bottom should be a section labeled "MIDI Music Playback." Look at the list in the Default Device field. The Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth should be in that list. Select it, and you should be good to go.

Oh, wait, you already said it's not in that list.

You can buy the Roland VSC from pgmusic.com for $20.

Have you tried playing the file with Winamp? Or Windows Media Player? Quicktime? Real Player? They might have their own built-in software synths if your machine is lacking one.

[JimPunkrockford]

i can open and play the files in these other programs but no sound.

i hate to spend 20 hard earned dollars but....

what if i buy the roland soundscape thinginy and it doesn't show up in my control panel, i will be sad .

well at this point i guess that is all i can do. i'll go buy it now and let you know if it works.

thanks again for all this help

[JimPunkrockford]

i was unable to buy it. i went through and filled it all out then when i tried to download it, they said i need to spend another $30 to get that roland thing. there wasn't anything i needed from them for 30 bucks so i'm back were i started. what other synths are there i can try and find???

[johnnymegabyte]

Windows Media Player using DLS

It is Roland Sound Canvas. My PC at work has a generic soundcard, but uses the gm.dls created by Roland

check your PC in c:\windows\system32\drivers for gm.dls

it can be downloaded for free. Check Micro$oft website


From The Control Panel ... find "Sound and Audio Devices"
Select "Audio" tab
under MIDI Music Playback --- Default Device
make sure it says "Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth" or possibly something similar

However, I find the MIDI sounds only a tad better than so-so
MY SB at home is miles above, but nowhere near a synth or sound module